BLEACHED - Shadows, Seen and Unseen
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: One-Shot When Buffy dies facing the Master, while Xander and Angel are trying to save her, she meets someone quite unexpected.


Title: BLEACHED: Shadows, Seen and Unseen

Author: Doc4 (Edited and Formatted by Joshua)

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters do not belong to me, but to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions. Bleach and its characters belongs to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump magazine.

Summary: One-Shot When Buffy dies facing the Master, while Xander and Angel are trying to save her, she meets someone quite unexpected.

Editor's Note: This story was shared with me by my friend and fellow author, who goes by the moniker "Doc4", quite a few years ago. Despite my offers to assist and even attempts to do so, he hasn't done anything with any of these stories that he shared with me, and so seeing that he's not going to share it with the world, I will. I, of course, am giving him full credit where credit is most assuredly due, but come on, ten years and not posting it, or even continuing it? Therefore, everyone that wants to see this continue, bug him, Doc4, about it, as he's the author, I'm just "publishing" it for him. :)

Story:

The first time Buffy Summers met a shinigami, it was completely by accident.

The recently dead Slayer was standing next to her body as the Master of Aurelious, after successfully completing the prophecy, happily dug his way out of his former prison. She tugged at the chain that connected her to her body thoughtfully.

"Well," she commented. "If this is death, then I'd say I pretty much got screwed over."

"You're not entirely dead yet," Buffy turned to face the newest player in the game. He was tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes staring at her from behind square rimmed glasses, a long white jacket of what seemed to be some sort of black gi, sandals on his feet and a long katana by his side. "The Chain of Destiny still holds you to your body. Depending one what happens next, I will send you to the Soul Society. Heaven, I believe most human culture call it."

"Soul Society?" Buffy asked, narrowing her eyes. She was so fixated on him she didn't notice Xander and Angel enter. "Who ARE you?"

"Sosuke Aizen," he answered. "5th Division Captain. Shinigami, or Death God."

"So... the Grim Reaper?" She said flippantly. "I thought you'd be skinnier," Aizen gave her a smile that somewhat creeped her out.

"I suppose you could call me that," he said. "It is my responsibility to see souls onto their final reward, whatever that may be. Though it would seem that it is not yet your time to go," he nodded passed her to wear Xander was trying to get angel to help with CPR. Buffy fumed when the vampire said he couldn't breathe, and thus couldn't help.

"What kind of bullshit is that?" she demanded. "Hey! You're talking, that means you have air going through your vocal cords, even I know that! He is so going to get it," Aizen chuckled. What an interesting girl, and her spirit power... yes, she could be a promising recruit, later in the game.

"It seems your battles in life are not done yet, Slayer," Aizen said. Buffy looked at him for a moment before giving him a wry smile.

"Right, Grim Reaper," he said. "Of course you know. So... I guess I'll see you around?"

"Oh, most assuredly," he nodded as her chain tightened, pulling her spirit back into her body.

Buffy's eyes opened as she began breathing. "Xander," she whispered. "thanks."

"Hey, no prob," the boy said. Angel chose this moment to step forward...

...Only to receive a kick in the shins.

"No breath my ass," she glared at him as Xander helped her up.

"How did..."

"Lo..." Buff looked over to see Aizen still standing there. Wait, see? How...

Aizen noticed she could still see him and chuckled before leaving. Yes, this girl was definitely someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Since her near death at the hands of the Master, Buffy discovered she could now see things far beyond the regular creepy crawlies that inhabited Sunnydale. There was a different kind of monster.

A monster that the Slayer just isn't equipped to fight.

A spiritual monster.

Thankfully, it seemed Eyezeen (Azan? Whatever) wasn't the only 'Grim Reaper' in the area. She'd seen several around, usually fighting big bad ghosts or sending innocent shades to their final rest. She knew, after miserably failing the first time and escaping (barely) to tell the tale that she couldn't fight these... creatures, so she settled with trying to lessen collateral damage, keeping those that couldn't see out of danger and herding innocent spirits away from the big bad thingios which, apparently, liked to snack on (she'd watched on, helpless, as this had happened. She'd vowed it wouldn't happen again. Not on her watch).

This went on for two years. She and Angel had never really recovered from his apparent giving up on her, while she and Xander had started getting closer.

And then Buffy discovered she wasn't anything even remotely resembling a regular Slayer.

_Just my luck,_ Buffy thought as she looked up at the... thing. It was massive, topping 12 feet easily with four tentacle-like appendages with a massive claw on each one and a snake like tail running out the back. It's eye glared down at her through it's mask as she looked the the hole in it's chest, wishing that whatever had done this had killed the damn thing.

In other words big, ugly...

...And Untouchable. To her at least. And wouldn't you know it, not a Reaper in site. _And here's me trapped in an alley with tall dark and gruesome and my only weapon is the sword I used to send Dru to hell with,_ she thought, tightening her grip on said blade. She wasn't sure why she carried the damn thing. It just felt more comfortable in her hands then any other weapon.

"Alright, ugly," she said, shifting her weight, ready to launch herself at the thing. "Let's get this over with," as she charged, swinging her blade, her thoughts turned to Xander. They'd gotten really close, closer than she'd thought they could ever have gotten. Make out sessions with a warm body were much more fun.

And his hands...

And she was never going to see him again. She was going to die, probably get eaten.

And there was nothing she could do.

_I'm sorry, Xander._

She never noticed the faint blue glow of her sword. She did, however, notice that it left quite a nice clean cut through the creature.

Wait, back up there...

She looked at her still glowing sword, feeling a slight difference. As if it were... a part of her. Like an extension of her arm. Yeah, sure, during training Giles always said a true master felt like this, but... she wondered if this was what he meant. It was hard to tell where she ended and...

A loud roar broke her focus as the creature swiped at her.

Right. Slay now. Figure out what the hell's going on later.

She blocked an incoming claw, rolling back as another approached her, ramming her sword in just below here the blade began. The creature roared in pain...

And then split right down the middle. Buffy blinked as it faded away, seeing a familiar figure behind it.

"Wait, you're... Eyezeen!" The bespectacled chuckled, pushing his glasses up his face.

"Aizen," he corrected, looking a the blade in her hand as the glow faded. Not a zanpakuto, like he'd suspected at first. Still... "Charging your spiritual power into that sword... a good idea," she blinked up at him. "You don't even know what you did, did you?"

"Kicked ass?" He really did like that spirit of hers. It would be a shame to break it.

"You were channelling the power from your own soul into that sword," he explained. "Without any training, going only on instinct," of course, he's been pushing her to this point over the past 2 years. He just hadn't expected it to be so soon. Another year at least. Extraordinary. "And to injure a Hollow... most impressive."

"Hollow?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Hollow. A human spirit that has fallen, corrupted by it's own memories or another Hollow. They have no emotions other than hunger and hatred."

"So a spiritual vampire?" She asked. Aizen nodded. An apt explanation. "The other half of your job?"

"Yes," Aizne confirmed what she'd guessed. So, sending souls on and killing those that got left behind. Sounded almost Slayerish.

"So, what now?" She asked.

"Given the amount of Hollow activity around Hellmouths," Aizen began, turning away. "I would suggest practicing with that skill of yours. You keep this up... you might get recruited."

"Not for a few more years yet, thanks," Aizen chuckled as he vanished in a blur. Buffy shook her head as she hid the sword under her jacket.

_Why can I never do anything the normal way?_


End file.
